Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-14

that soon after it had returned empty.
Doubtless the man had been murdered II
Harlem, land the corpse then transported
to Yonkers and LETT there with pistol to
suggest that Howard had killed himself
Dob vas suspected OF having hand in
the tragedy, but nothing was ever Ger
tsinly known about it, nor probably never
will be.
at Gil events, Howard was gone,
though not until he had, as it were,
opened the door for the others to enter;
and shortly afterwards, SheveliE being on
duty, Do0bs and Hope were admitted to
the bank, and made trial Of Towards
prescription upon the lock Ct the vault
II worked ike charm; the heavy doors
swung back and the two burglars stood
for the first time within few inches o.!
boundless wealth. But those few incnes
were harder to traverse than as many
thousand miles of ordinary obstacles. for
they consisted of solid steel. But Hope
and Dobbs had only come on g prospect
ing expedition; they made an estimate Of
the time it would tske 20 open the safes
after having got into the vaul and then
retired, satisfied that the job YVES feasible
an ~ this juncture fatal mishap OC-
Cured.
/. nod been their intention to return
the tumbIers Of the lock to their proper
position by the same wire with which
they had thrown them back and and then
to conceal the'hole with putty. But by
an unluckY slip one Of the tumblers WAS
turned in the wrong direction, so that,
although the door was locked fast enough,
ii would be impossible for the cashier to
open it the next morning by the combine
ton. On such slight chances do mo-
mentus events turn. Dobbs and Hope at
once perceived that the misplaced tumbler
would draw the attention Of the bank 10
what had occurred, and that it would be
! useless to attempt anything further for 9
! long while to come, if ever. A supersti-
tious mind might have fancied that
the ghost Of the murdered Howard had
something to do with the calamity.
But the bank, as the reader already
! knows, did not attach so much impOr-
lance to the unexplained hole under the
combination plate as the burglars had
imagined they would, and after an inter
val Of less than year Shevelin once
more found himself the object of fatter-
| ing solicitations. As he was taking q
quiet glass at table in Third avenue
| lager beer saloon one evening he was &C
costed by Jimmy Hope, and tue old topic
was reopened. Jimmy Hope was then 81
! the height of his reputation and activity
He devoted himself exclusively to bank
| burglary, ard now that Howard was
dead, he was the admitted head OF
! the profession BE was rather shor.
man, compsctly built, and having the ap-
pearance of prosperous merchant. Like
most thieves he was leading double
! life, having q wife and children in one
part Of the city, while he occupied 8
! fashionable apartment fiat in another, aud
was known there, to an admiring circle OF
friends, as Mr.. Hopely, a retired capt.
| tallst.
Hope informed. Shevelin that tie hour
sud the men were st hand TO actually &C.
complish the crest robbery. The dra-
mats perso1R in this case were to be
Hope himself snd his SOC, college bred
youth Of twenty-three, with 1ne future
before him; Billy Kelly, q personal
friend of Shevelin's, E brisk and genial
young fellow, who alternated the
vocation of bartender wi that OF
highway robber; Pete Emerson, other
wise Bario Pete, formerly the star OF 9
niger minstrel troupe, but now promot-
cd 10 the brevet rank OF safe burglar Ed
Goodie, the distinguished inventor and
practicer OF the butcher cart robbery bus
mess. the most mysterious and reticent
Ct sill New York thieves; and, finally, John
Nugent, who was police officer in GOOD
standing, and valuable not only as d.
rect helper in the JOB, but 'ss sn unsus-
pected spy upon the operations Of TIE
authorities Take i altogether, such :
galaxy CT ta.eat had never before b5eL
assembled in the metropolis; and, profit
ing by past experiences, 1t was Impossible
they should fail. "And if we get the stuff
Patrick concluded Mr.. Hope, impress.
sively, ''your share of it will be just {
quarter of million dollars! And that'l
more than 81 % dsy!"
The bribe was certainly a splendid one
such as very few persons have enjoyed
the opportunity of refusing. As TO.
Shevelin, he accepted tin anticipation
without any hageling. Two huadre'